Introduction
Boy do we have a good smartphone comparison for you today – the new HTC Desire 820 versus the new Huawei Ascend Mate 7. Both devices are nice looking and feel solid and good in your hand…especially the Ascend Mate 7 with its small bezels, and full metal body. This is not to say that the Desire 820 is not a nice looking phone, but more in a ‘fun’ way with its many colored bands.
These two devices are quite a bit different from each other when it comes to specifications. They both have the same size 13MP sensor for the main camera with auto-focus and an LED flash and both have larger than normal front-facing cameras – the Desire 820 has an 8MP sensor and the Ascend Mate 7 uses a 5MP sensor, while most smartphones are using 2-3MP FFC.
Both of these devices are almost identical in size, although the Ascend Mate 7 does weigh 30 grams more…because of the metal body and larger battery. They both have the usual Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, a microUSB connector for charging and data transfer. They both use Android 4.4 KitKat with their own UI overlay.
Please look at the detailed Specification sheet listed below to determine exactly how these two devices are different or alike. Next, we will take a look at each individual device to try to determine which device will be the winner of this smartphone comparison.
Specifications
HTC Desire 820
The HTC Desire 820 falls in their Desire line of devices, generally reserved for lower-end models, whereas the Desire 820 is HTC’s first smartphone with a 64-bit processor and other fairly decent specs, although they saved some money by using an HD display. This device was definitely created for the younger crowd into social media with its fun with colors and large FFC for selfies or video chatting with family or friends. Even though it is plastic, it feels solid and well-built in your hand.
The Desire 820 comes to us with a nice sized 5.5-inch display, but only an HD resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels per inch at 267 pixels-per inch (PPI) compared to the FHD display of the 6-inch Ascend Mate 7 display at 368 PPI. When it comes to processing power, we have a double edged sword here – the Desire 820 uses a great Qualcomm Snapdragon 64-bit octa-core clocked at 1.5GHz and 1.0GHz, but without Android 5.0 Lollipop, an upgrade that the Desire 820 may never receive, so the 64-bit processor will never really be useful. Both devices have a model with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal memory and both devices have room for expansion – the Desire 820 has 128GB and the Ascend Mate 7 only 32GB, although it does have a 3GB of Ram and 32GB storage ‘gold’ model as well.
The Desire 820 shares its main camera specifications with the Ascend Mate 7 – 13MP sensor with auto-focus and an LED flash. The Desire 820 adds a nice 8MP FFC for social media freaks that like to take selfies and video chat with friends. It does take a hit in the battery department with only a 2600mAh battery versus the huge 4100mAh battery found on the Ascend Mate 7.
The Desire 820 does have Dual-SIM capabilities and features the front-facing stereo BoomSound speakers that HTC made famous on their flagship, the HTC One M7 and M8. It also features an FM radio and comes in multiple color trims. It is running Android 4.4.2 with Sense 6.0 and can be purchased on Amazon or online for $360 – $400 off-contract.
Huawei Ascend Mate 7
The Huawei Ascend Mate 7 comes to us with a full metal design and it is a beauty to behold – from its very thin bezels to the rounded metal back, it looks and feels like a premium device…albeit, a rather large 6-inch device with a FHD IPS LCD display resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and 368 PPI. With its slim bezels, the 5.5-inch Desire 820 is almost identical in size. The Ascend Mate 7 uses a homegrown Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 925 octa-core processor clocked at 1.8GHz and 1.3GHz – only 32-bits, but with more than enough power and speed to allow the device to run fast and smooth, even with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage.
The main 13MP, auto-focus and LED camera has the same specs that the Desire 820 has, but matched up against the Desire’s 8MP FFC, Huawei still manages to include a 5MP FFC, which is larger than the normal 2MP that we see a lot of around the different models. One area that the Ascend Mate kills is with its huge 4100mAh battery – easily getting 2 days of service out of a charge.
The Ascend Mate 7 only has a single speaker on the back of the device, but does employ a fingerprint scanner. It also runs 4.4 Android KitKat with its own EMUI 3.0 skin on top and works with 4G LTE on T-Mobile’s network, but only HSPA+ on AT&T’s network. It will run you close to $700 off-contract.
…And The Winner Is…
Summary
For my selection, I had to choose the Huawei Ascend Mate 7 as the winner of this comparison. It is certainly the more premium looking of the two devices and it has a much better display. When it comes to processors, the Desire 820 may be 64-bit, but until Android 5.0 Lollipop gets on the Desire 820 – if it ever does – that really doesn’t mean that much. We could possibly give a slight edge to the Qualcomm Snapdragon, but Huawei’s homegrown Hisilicon Kirin processor is nothing to dismiss in this comparison, as in our review it performed flawlessly.
The Ascend Mate 7 offers a ‘gold’ model with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage, although both devices do offer expansion via a microSD card slot, the Desire 820 allows a full 128GB and the Ascend Mate 7 only 32GB. The Ascend Mate 7’s 4100mAh battery blows out the smaller 2600mAh on the Desire 820. The Ascend Mate 7 does have NFC and a fingerprint scanner as well. It will also work fine on T-Mobile’s 4G LTE and AT&T’s HSPA+ (no LTE) and will run you about $700 off contract.
Give us a shout out on our Google+ Page and let us know which one of these two devices you would pick as the winner of this comparison and WHY…as always, we would love to hear from you.